As I had blogged previously, Modern Family is one of my favorite new comedy shows of the 2009-2010 television season. In a recent episode, I was pleasantly surprised to see actress Suzy Nakamura reprises her role as Dr. Miura, who same sex couple Mitchell and Cameron befriend and invite over to their home. Mitchell and Cameron become concerned and self-conscious when their adopted daughter Lily’s first words are “momma” instead of “daddy.” Later, in this video clip, Dr. Miura explains that her mother, who was born in Japan, was very traditional, pushing her to get married and have kids – and would only be happy with that stereotype. However, Dr. Miura was lucky to have a very supportive dad who would listen and support whatever decisions she made in her life. She reassures Mitchell and Cameron that Lily is just as lucky to have two father who love her as much as they do . . . And then screeches away in her car and hits everything in her path, reinforcing the stereotype about bad Asian American female drivers.
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View Comments to “Asian Stereotypes on ABC’s Modern Family”
Anonymous wrote:
It was a joke. Modern Family writers incorporate all sorts of stereotypes in their jokes: homosexual jokes, Hispanic jokes, homeless jokes, etc. It may not be particularly funny to you, but don't become hypersensitive about it.
Posted on 11-Mar-10 at 7:17 am | Permalink
johnklin wrote:
I know it is a joke. I found it funny. My other blog posting on Modern Family is also a joke.
Posted on 11-Mar-10 at 7:26 am | Permalink
Confuse_Us wrote:
That was hilarious! Of course the very best thing about it is that it doesn't reinforce the stereotype of the cold, distant, authoritarian Asian father, who suppresses his daughter's freedoms in the name of cultural continuity. That's something we never see.
Posted on 11-Mar-10 at 10:19 am | Permalink
calamansi wrote:
I was conflicted about this scene myself.
I disagree with the above posters. Just because something is meant to be a “joke” does not mean it is not discriminatory.
The interesting thing about this scene though is that Nakamura's character, prior to driving away, says that she is by no means a stereotype. Yet, of course, she drives away recklessly. The real question is — where does the humor in this scene come from? Is it because, while acknowledging that “bad Asian drivers” is a needless stereotype, Dr. Miura is oblivious to her poor driving skills or even made a real mistake in hitting the trash can and the parked car? Or is it because Dr. Miura, no matter how much effort she puts into subverting the stereotype, is compelled by some inherent racial tendency to fulfill that stereotype?
There's a subtle but important distinction between the two, and whether this scene was a mindless rehash of old stereotypes or a thoughtful attempt at breaking down such sterotypes depends both on which intent the authors had and how audiences have perceived it.
Posted on 11-Mar-10 at 10:44 am | Permalink
erika888 wrote:
“Nakamura's character, prior to driving away, says that she is by no means a stereotype”
That made the scene a lot more problematic for me tbh. If it was just the reckless driving it wouldn't have been all too bad, and I might have laughed (though I find the writing in Modern Family unfunny in general). It seems to of suggest that your biological race factors into how you behave no matter what.
Posted on 11-Mar-10 at 2:43 pm | Permalink
calamansi wrote:
Yes, I can definitely see that.
But, on the other hand, the overall tone of Nakamura's appearances on the show (granted, she's only made two) seems to be one that mocks Asian stereotypes rather than reinforces it. I thought her first appearance on the show made a very clear point — despite repeated baiting by Cameron to discuss her supposedly shared Asian heritage with adoptee Lily, Dr. Miura maintains that she doesn't know anything about pho. “I'm from Denver.”
I'm just playing devil's advocate here, though. Although the motives of the screenwriters may seem well-intentioned, the scene remains problematic if folks perceive it in an antagonistic light. I personally am still conflicted as to how to feel about this particular scene.
Posted on 11-Mar-10 at 4:14 pm | Permalink
erika888 wrote:
It seems like Modern Family goes both ways; they mock racial stereotypes but re-enforce them at the same time. I found that to be true especially with Gloria, who is fleshed out enough to not be a complete stereotype all the time, but is in general pretty stereotypical.
Posted on 11-Mar-10 at 4:20 pm | Permalink
calamansi wrote:
I whole-heartedly agree: Modern Family can be very inconsistent with its treatment of racial stereotypes. While I absolutely adore Manny's character, I find Gloria to be exactly what you said: a cliched representation of a Latina.
Posted on 11-Mar-10 at 4:26 pm | Permalink
Anonymous wrote:
No, I read your entire article prior to commenting. Perhaps I didn't realize that you found the clip funny because you never stated it. Have you read your article? The only subjective statements you made were, “my favorite new comedy” and “.. I was pleasantly surprised” concerning the actress returning to the show. The rest of your article is mostly written as an objective summary.
However, you end the article with, “reinforcing the stereotype about bad..”. I don't know about you, but when someone writes “reinforcing the stereotype”, I wouldn't think the author finds the subject matter funny. But maybe you do?
If you found it funny, why not say so in the article? Something like you just did in your comment, “I found it funny”. Otherwise, your ambiguous writing reads as if you're being hypersensitive about the topic.
Posted on 11-Mar-10 at 8:03 pm | Permalink
johnklin wrote:
My posting was edited and for some reason, altered to not convey exactly what I meant… My first posting on Modern Family had more color on how hilarious I find Modern Family. Obviously, I need to provide some feedback to the editor… In retrospect, I agree that my post could appear as being hypersensitive.
Posted on 11-Mar-10 at 8:28 pm | Permalink
johnklin wrote:
Yes, Gloria is the most cliched character on the program, then probably Cameron.
Posted on 11-Mar-10 at 8:30 pm | Permalink
Anonymous wrote:
My apologies, I mis-understood the edited comment from your first reply. In that case, who on earth is editing your material before it is presented on this blog? I have a bone to pick with your editor.
Posted on 11-Mar-10 at 10:41 pm | Permalink
erika888 wrote:
You do realize the “you're being hypersensitive!” thing is over-played, right? If you don't have anything constructive to add to the discussion, move on.
Posted on 12-Mar-10 at 4:08 am | Permalink
Ricca wrote:
I think Modern Family is really a very funny show.Though the use of racial stereotypes to make people laugh is getting old for me.
Posted on 18-Mar-10 at 11:03 pm | Permalink
8Asians.com » Nur Ali: Asian-American Race Car Driver wrote:
[...] says that Asians can’t drive? Nur Ali raced this past weekend in ARCA Racing Series Rattlesnake 150 at Texas Motor [...]
Posted on 19-Apr-10 at 7:01 am | Permalink
Chantreuse wrote:
I am an Asian woman who grew up in Chinatown, but now living in a predominantly white city. Following a car up a 4-story parking ramp, I was rolling my eyes and shaking my head at the driver putting on the left turn directionals every time she turned left to go up a floor. At the top level, I said to myself in jest, “gawd, I hope she's not Asian.” (translation: so as not to perpetuate stereotypes.) She was.
This little episode was hilarious to me. Some of us (the perpetually offended) get our knickers way too twisted.
Posted on 04-Aug-10 at 11:29 am | Permalink
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